The residential building in the town of Horlivka destroyed in the Ukrainian army's shelling (RIA Novosti) / RIA Novosti

Ukrainian warplanes used 500kg aviation bombs in their attack on the town of Gorlovka on Sunday, said Aleksandr Zakharchenko, head of the People’s Republic of Donetsk, adding that it was not a targeted bombardment.

"Towards the evening, the Ukrainian bombers performed an
airstrike on Gorlovka with 500-kilogram aviation bombs. Notably,
the bombardment was not targeted; it came from over the clouds
and the aim was simply to hit the town,” Zakharchenko said.

Over 30 people, including children, have been killed or injured
in Donetsk as a result of the Ukrainian offensive on Sunday, he
added.

The city's mayor, Oleg Gubanov, also said that two people were
killed and 16 others injured after a Ukrainian shell exploded at
a bus station in Gorlovka.

Several buildings, including four schools and a kindergarten,
suffered direct hits during the bombardment, “which went on
without a break for almost 24 hours,” he added.

According to Donetsk administration, at least five civilians were
killed in the city on Sunday. Several residential buildings and a
shop were seriously damaged by artillery fire.

“For several weeks, we’ve been shouting and trying to prove
that the Ukrainian military is using the truce to perform a
massive regrouping of its forces to prepare for a large-scale
offensive. But all of our appeals to the OSCE and Joint Centre
for Control & Coordination (JCCC) have been ignored,”
the head of the Donetsk People’s Republic said.

“The representatives of the JCCC have themselves felt the
scale of the Ukrainian shelling,” as they went under fire in
Gorlovka earlier in the day, he added.

Zakharchenko also stressed that “all attempts of Ukrainian
forces to take revenge for the defeat they suffered [from the
rebels] last autumn have failed.”

“The self-defense forces have successfully repelled all six
attacks by Ukrainian armored vehicle columns, performed with
massive artillery support. As a result, I can say that the
Ukrainian offensive on the airport has failed,” he said.

Rebels dislodged Kiev troops from the village of Peski, which was
used by the Ukrainian army to shell the Donetsk airport on a
daily basis, he added.

The Russian representative at the JCCC has confirmed that his
colleagues came under artillery fire from Kiev forces in Gorlovka
on Sunday.

He also stressed that the shelling of residential areas in
Donetsk is being performed by the Ukrainian military’s regular
forces.

"Previously, all the attacks on Donetsk and its suburbs were
mainly conducted by uncontrolled units of the National Guard or
the so-called territorial battalions, but today it’s clear that
the shelling of residential areas is performed by regular units
of the Ukrainian army. Also, for the first time after a long
break, the Ukrainian side is using aviation,” the
representative said.

The resumed offensive by the Ukrainian military in the Donetsk
Region is a violation of the Minsk peace deal, signed by the two
sides on September 5, he added.

Instead of the agreed withdrawal of troops to a safe distance,
“we see, in fact, an attempt by the Ukrainian forces to storm
the rebel positions, which led to new mass casualties among
civilians in Donetsk and Gorlovka,” the representative
stressed.